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Got your goat? — Pygmy goat club hopes for more shows

By Matlin Smith / msmith@lcsun-news.com

Posted:
11/26/2012 04:09:18 PM MST

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Ashlyn Vernon, 14, of the New Mexico Pygmy Goat Club, shows off one of her goats named Misty, whom she helped birth. Vernon is a member of the New Mexico Pygmy Goat Club and hopes to use the experience she s had raising and taking care of Pygmy goats to get into veterinary school after graduation from Mayfield High School.

Brought over to the United States in 1959 to be used in petting zoos, pygmy goats have been considered mostly as pets with big personalities, but one state group hopes to promote the mini-goats as useful livestock and kick-start more sanctioned pygmy goat shows statewide.

The New Mexico Pygmy Goat Club, a non-profit organization affiliated with the National Pygmy Goat Association, was established to promote the growth and understanding of the goats, and unite pygmy goat lovers in order to educate them on breeding and general care of the animal.

"We've been doing pygmy goats for three years. My daughter is starting FFA at Mayfield High School and wants to be a veterinarian, so we got into the pygmy goat project," said club vice president Heather Vernon, of Las Cruces.

Vernon, her husband, Doug, and daughter, Ashlyn, 14, currently raise 11 pygmy goats, participating in regional shows, and affording Ashlyn hands-on experience to give her a leg up when applying for vet school.

"The birthings are my favorite part," Ashlyn Vernon said. "We get to birth them and have new baby goats to play with."

"My daughter knows how to give injections. She's tended wounds and helped deliver babies. There's also the showing aspect. They don't win all the time, and it's a good life lesson and it gets her the experience of competition," Heather Vernon said.

Revising a program

Like most other clubs, Vernon said the NMPGC has been hit hard by the recession and has been unable to hold a show in New Mexico for more than a year.

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"As a working family, it's easier to own pygmy goats (because they're low maintenance), but some families unfortunately don't have the money to travel out of state for shows," Vernon said. "It's heartbreaking that the kids are going out there and cleaning the pens and doing the work, but don't get to go do the fun part (showing)."

NMPGC president Renee Furst said the state club hopes to raise enough money to bring the club back into operation after its year of being dormant.

"Even though times are still hard for everyone, we love our little goats so much that we just can't give them up," she said.

Through fundraisers, like a recent bake sale, the club hopes to offset the costs attached to being able to hold NPGA-sanctioned shows in the state. Expenses include grounds rentals, judge fees, ribbons and sanction fees.

The $20 membership fee also goes toward covering these expenses. The fee includes family members, a quarterly newsletter, free classifieds, member rates at shows and a spot in the breeder's directory.

According to the club's website, club activities include "how-to" clinics, NPGA-sanctioned shows, monthly meetings and other club events.

"It's (the club) a great family-oriented environment, and it teaches the kids great life lessons in all aspects in life, like the responsibility of caring for the animal and the competition side of winning and losing. It does teach them very important lessons."

Vernon said the hard work and expenses will eventually pay off in the form of scholarship opportunities for her daughter.

Got goats?

"We got into pygmy goats because you don't have to auction them off after the fair. You can show them year after year," Vernon said. "They're wonderful little animals. They're a lot like dogs. They have wonderful personalities and are low-maintenance and don't cost much to feed."
Pygmy goats — described by the NPGA as hardy, alert, animated, good-natured and gregarious — are sociable and adaptable to virtually every climate.

"(Before shows), we work with the goats and groom them and wash them. (I) had to memorize the showmanship moves out of the book when I first started," Ashlyn said of her show experience.

While shows held at the Southern New Mexico State Fairgrounds west of Las Cruces don't require pygmy goat entrants to be registered, goats entered in shows sanctioned by NPGA allow for points awarded the exhibitor.

After earning three grand champion wins for a doe (female) and four grand champion wins for a buck (male), Vernon said the animal becomes a permanent grand champion and can only show in Master Challenges. After a win in the master division, the goat becomes eligible to compete for the national title.

"It's (participating in shows) been a blast," Heather Vernon said. "We love how friendly everyone is at the shows. They give helpful advice, they encourage the kids and want the kids to be there."

For more information, visit the NMPGC website at nmpgc.webs.com, or at "New Mexico Pygmy Goat Club" on Facebook.

Matlin Smith can be reached at (575) 541-5468; follow her on Twitter at @msmith_lcsun.

A closer look

Facts about pygmy goats

• Originated in West Africa; imported to the U.S. in 1959 for use in petting zoos

• Colors include gray, black, white and light brown, with various markings around the feet, eyes, ears and nose.

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